Support for pressure sensitive pen tablet

User Support
#1

I have been struggling to get a Wacom Intuos working seamlessly with Qubes 4.0. I have a sys-usb qube, and I have xournalpp software running in a personal-drawing qube. The Wacom Intuous is attached to the computer via USB.

If I change /etc/qubes-rpc/policy/qubes.InputTablet to allow from sys-usb to dom0, then I am able to use the Wacom pen to control everything, including the mouse cursor. This does allow me to draw in the xournalpp program within the personal-drawing qube (and across any qube, including dom0). It also moves the cursor as I move the pen so I can see where I am going to draw. However, this method has a significant drawback because it does not allow the tablet to pass through the pressure values of the pen.

I have also tried attaching the Wacom tablet directly to the personal-drawing tablet. This does allow me to draw in the xournalpp program within the personal-drawing qube only. It also allows the pressure sensitivity to be used by the xournalpp program. However, it does not move the cursor as I move the pen, so I cannot see where I am about to draw.

From searching, it seems this is the most relevant comment on this topic, which describes what I am experiencing: issues with graphic tablet · Issue #2715 · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub

Has anyone got a tablet pen working with Qubes that includes pressure sensitivity and the cursor being visible? If so, how?

2 Likes
#2

I know there are issues with the cursor not demonstrating state changes with web browsers, for reasons having to do with generalized GUI capabilities. @Demi could this be related?

I think the issue I’ve had was fixed for 4.1 so don’t know if this would be fixed in 4.1, too.

@leaningtrees curious if it might work in 4.1 with sys-gui, which would be much safer than doing qubes.InputTablet through dom0, on an aside.

#3

Unfortunately I’m depending on this machine for work, so I’m not currently able to use it to test with 4.1 and sys-gui. If I get another machine to test with I’ll report back my findings.

1 Like
#4

I’m having the exact same issues trying to set up a drawing tablet in Qubes 4.0.4: if I change qubes.InputTablet I can use the pen to move the cursor but it doesn’t allow pressure sensitivity. Most importantly, since I have multiple screens, I can’t use xsetwacom to assign the pen to a specific screen, which is even more of a dealbreaker. If I don’t change the policy I can do all these things but I don’t get to see a cursor…Krita draws its own cursor in the drawing area, but Xournal++ doesn’t.

#5

I am not familiar with qubes.InputTablet, but I would not be surprised if it simply does not support pressure — yet. Adding support would be both possible and highly desirable. It should be possible to use qubes.InputTablet directly from sys-usb to personal-drawing, without having to compromise dom0.

#6

Is it possible to use some program that highlights the cursor/its position? Or a script.

#7

On a fedora template/AppVM I once used an app called something like “Wacom finder” and was able to configure and test my tablet, and it did seem to read the pressure sensor.

I used one of the standard drawing apps to test it out, but I did not take notes on which app. I have not had the luxury of time to really kick it around. I never used a tablet before so when I say “it worked” please take that with a grain of salt. I just know it varied the width of the line with the amount of pressure applied with the pen onto the tablet.